Get Firefox!

Updated: 01/03/2009.

Firefox has been my browser of choice almost since it was introduced to the general public. One of its biggest features is the ease of installing useful add-ons that enhance or otherwise improve upon the basic functionality of the browser. Some of these add-ons, I would argue, should actually be considered necessary nowadays. Others are simply, but undeniably, useful.

Although I expect that most people visiting my site will already have installed (or dismissed for whatever reason) the add-ons listed here, it is my hope that at least a few people will find something useful that they didn’t know about. I also hope that I’ll be lucky enough to have someone visit who knows of some new, indispensible add-on that I didn’t know about! Please do feel free to make a suggestion.

(Read the list of fifteen sixteen fabulous, if not Fortean*, Firefox add-ons below the fold.)

NoScript. Their blurb: “The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey and other mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser.”

My experience is that this add-on should be considered indispensable. The only possible downside I can see for using it is that you sometimes have to take a moment to choose permissions for some site you visit. However, I have found that putting the power of control back in your own hands is worth it.

Adblock Plus. Their blurb: “Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? Install Adblock Plus now and get rid of them. Right-click on a banner and choose ‘Adblock’ from the context menu — the banner won’t be downloaded again. Maybe even replace parts of the banner address with star symbols to block similar banners as well. Or choose a filter subscription, then even this simple task will usually be unnecessary: the filter subscription will block most advertisements fully automatically.”

What clued me in that I was using a really useful add-on was when I used a browser not equipped with ABP. I was kind of stunned to realize that I’d forgotten just how many ads are out there on the Web! I use a filter subscription (also free) and so I just don’t see the gajillion flashy, trashy, annoying and cloying come-ons luridly festooning the pages I’m trying to view in peace. Another add-on I’d be inclined to call necessary.

CS Lite. Their blurb: “This extension will allow you to easily control cookie permissions. It can be accessed from the statusbar, a toolbar button, or the context menu. Just click on the icon to allow, block, or temporarily allow the site to set cookies. You can also view, clear or edit the cookies and exceptions by right clicking on the cs lite icon. For safer browsing you may choose to deny cookies globally and then enable them on a per site basis. You can also download a blocklist that contains a list of untrusted hosts that you may choose to import into FF and block. The blocklist can be configured to automatically update or can be updated manually.”

When I was a little kid, I wanted cookies. Now that I am an adult, I still want cookies—so long as they’re real cookies! Cookies from the Web I do not want most of the time. CS Lite settles the problem for me. But why should you care about cookies? From Webopedia: “Cookies normally do not compromise security, but there is a growing trend of malicious cookies. These types of cookies can be used to store and track your activity online. Cookies that watch your online activity are called malicious or tracking cookies. These are the bad cookies to watch for, because theytrack you and your surfing habits, over time, to build a profile of your interests. Once that profile contains enough information there is a good chance that your information can be sold to an advertising company who then uses this profile information to target you with interest specific adverts.” I don’t like the tracking capabilities of cookies because I don’t really trust people not to abuse the technology, so I’d call CS Lite an important defensive add-on.

Session Manager. Their blurb: “Session Manager saves and restores the state of all windows – either when you want it or automatically at startup and after crashes. Additionally it offers you to reopen (accidentally) closed windows and tabs. If you’re afraid of losing data while browsing – this extension allows you to relax…”

This is just a no-brainer, really. Sometimes bad things happen to good browsers and you suddenly find yourself looking at your desktop with that queasy feeling you get after some 23 tabs you were using have gone “Poof!” and vanished. Sure, there are the usual, cumbersome, slow-as-molasses-in-January-in-Minnesota ways to somewhat recover your session; a trip through your browser’s History can, if you’ve the time and patience, be relatively fruitful. However, I’d prefer to get everything back just the way it was. Wouldn’t you?

YouTube Comment Snob. Their blurb: “YouTube Comment Snob filters out undesirable comments from YouTube comment threads.”

This is a rather straightforward, configurable and effective utility. If you don’t like screaming “Teh stoopid! It brrnz!” at your screen whenever you attempt to scroll through a thread of YouTube comments replete with trolls, griefers, and disaffected teens, then you’ll be glad you have it. Of course, you’ll be considered a snob by a great many people because you won’t lend your eyes to their inanity/insanity. Poor them.

Hyperwords. Their blurb: [Really, just go view the demo, it's better than a blurb.]

Trust me when I say that Hyperwords is one of the coolest add-ons available. I use it constantly, and it has made browsing all the more enjoyable and rewarding. All the things you might want to do with a word on a Web page, Hyperwords (probably) does: translate, define, find references for, use as a search term, etc. Hyperwords is the cool tool for people who want the Web to yield itself up to their immediate needs. You want Hyperwords. You really do.

Note: In the YMMV department, a commenter (see below) pointed me in the direction of Research Word, which is like a lighter vision of the above add-on. Although I tried it out and certainly appreciated it for what it does, I found that I still prefer my choice. Some people may prefer RW for its more basic approach, so you might want to check it out.

Google Notebook. Their blurb: “With Google Notebook, you can browse, clip, and organize information from across the web in a single online location that’s accessible from any computer. Planning a trip? Researching a product? Just add clippings to your notebook. You won’t ever have to leave your browser window.”

Simple. Useful. Unobtrusive. Convenient. Want to make a note of something? Here’s your utility. (Requires a free Google Account.)

Zotero. Their blub: “Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work – in the web browser itself.”

If you are a student or a researcher of some kind, Zotero is the tool you’ve been hoping for. All you need to do is surf to the information you’re after, access Zotero, and catalog, tag, take a snapshot of, or make a note of the material you want. The app does a lot of the drudge-work for you. Even better, Zotero integrates with MS Word, OpenOffice, and WordPress, and its developers are hard at work making it more useful than ever. It is an astonishly robust utility you’ll be grateful for when that next paper refuses to write itself.

Greasemonkey. Their blurb: “Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript.”

Indeed. And I do. For instance, I use a nifty killfile script to extirpate the trolls from comment threads I’d like to read in peace. I also use a script that provides preview frames for videos Google finds. You cab find more scripts for more things than you can shake a laptop at by visiting The Greasemonkey Repository. Useful.

All-in-One Sidebar. Their blurb: “All-in-One Sidebar (AiOS) is an award-winning sidebar control, inspired by Opera’s. It lets you quickly switch between sidebar panels, view dialog windows such as downloads, extensions, and more in the sidebar, or view source or websites in the sidebar.”

This just makes life easier. Why bother to hunt for that one menu item in the kitchen when you can just get delivered to you on the side? ‘Convenience’ should be its middle name.

FoxyTunes. Their blurb: “Do you listen to Music while surfing the Web? FoxyTunes lets you control almost any media player and find lyrics, covers, videos, bios and much more with a click right from your browser.”

Are they kidding? They’re not kidding. And there are even more features to be unearthed. Coolness.

Foxmarks. Their blurb: “Foxmarks is a free add-on for your Firefox browser that syncs and backs up your bookmarks and passwords across multiple computers and more.”

Worth a million dollars, yet amazingly it’s free! I know! It’s astounding! Imagine it: you have a tool that allows you to access your bookmarks from all over the place, and it stores them and protects them for you. How awesome is that? Pretty freakin’ fantabulous, I’d say, and besides it’s just plain useful.

ChatZilla. Their blurb: “A clean, easy to use and highly extensible Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.”

Whois using that? I are, see? Seriously, though, this makes IRC simple. If you use IRC and Firefox, then you might as well get the two together, right? It’s like magic!

Faviconize Tab. Their blurb: “This extension adds a new ‘FaviconizeTab’ option to the context menu of the tab. When it is clicked, the width of the tab becomes small up to the size of favicon. It returns to the former size when ‘FaviconizeTab’ is clicked again.”

Really, you don’t need me to tell you that this makes your long chain-o’-tabs look a lot cleaner, and you can see more of them, and unless someone knows what Fark’s favicon looks like, they won’t necessarily know you’ve got the page open.

Minimap. Their blurb: “The Minimap Addon gives you a suite of in-built maps and mapping tools for your web browser. This extension comes with three mapping components, the main and most powerful one being a minimap sidebar. In this sidebar you can drag and drop addresses or locations you find on web pages and they will be automatically located, and added to your saved address list.”

Just added this one and, let me say, I am duly impressed. I went to a page with an address on it and this little add-on had a map ready for me the moment I clicked the icon in the navigation toolbar. Is that cool or what? Convenient and useful, I daresay.

Delicious. Their blurb: “Delicious Bookmarks is the official Firefox add-on for Delicious, the world’s leading social bookmarking service (formerly del.icio.us). It integrates your bookmarks and tags with Firefox and keeps them in sync for easy, convenient access.”

You may be wondering why, if I like Foxmarks so much, I have chosen to attach this particular add-on to my browser. Why indeed. Redundancy is not such a bad thing in itself when it comes to backing things up, such as bookmarks or your hard drive or your music collection. So there’s that. But there’s more. Delicious allows you to tag and describe your bookmarks on the fly, with no fuss and no muss. Also, if you are like me, you can then add a nice little link feed to your blog’s sidebar that includes giving readers the opportunity to add you to their own Delicious network. It’s a winner all around.

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So, there you have them! Sixteen useful, cool, fantastic, and/or needed Firefox add-ons. I hope that you found at least one along the way that piqued your curiosity. Please feel free to leave suggestions for other add-ons (or shout outs for your faves) in the comments. Thanks.